By: The Nature Newspaper
Expired foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics on the rise in marketplaces Across markets and commercial centers in Sierra Leone concerns are growing over the availability of substandard and potentially counterfeit products being offered to consumers. From foodstuffs and beverages to products and cosmetics. Questions are being raised about how effectively products entering and circulating in the market place are being monitored. For consumers the situation presents a serious public-health and consumer-protection concern. Many people purchase products based on packaging, price and availability without having the technical ability to determine whether a product is genuine, properly registered, safely stored or still within its approved shelf life. Expired food products can lose their safety and quality particularly where storage conditions are poor. Pharmaceutical products present a greater concern because medicines that are expired, falsified, damaged or improperly stored may fail to provide the intended therapeutic effect and can potentially expose patients to additional risks. Sierra Leone’s Pharmacy Board has acknowledged the problem of pharmaceutical products. Its guidelines classify medicines and other regulated products as when they are expired, deteriorated, damaged, counterfeit, and substandard unauthorized or banned. The Board also states that expired pharmaceuticals may become less effective and that some categories can pose public-health risks. In February 2026 the Pharmacy Board reported destroying 422-line items of counterfeit and substandard medicines at Kaffu Bullom in Lungi with a stated combined value of Le804, 539. The products had been recovered through inspections.
The seizure demonstrates that regulatory inspections can uncover products in circulation. It also raises a question: How many other expired or counterfeit products are reaching consumers before inspectors find them? Cosmetics are sometimes treated as consumer goods yet products applied to the skin, hair and body can have direct implications for human health. The Pharmacy Boards regulatory mandate includes cosmetics and chemical substances while its current registration framework covers cosmetics and related products. Consumers therefore need to be able to distinguish between registered products and those that may be unauthorized falsified, expired or improperly labeled. The Sierra Leone Standards Bureau has a role to play in protecting consumers by ensuring that products subject to standards requirements meet the applicable quality and safety requirements. This responsibility cannot be addressed through occasional interventions alone. There is a need for visible and coordinated market surveillance across supermarkets, shops, pharmacies, open markets, warehouses, distribution centers and other points where consumer products are sold. The relevant regulatory institutions should work together to strengthen inspection and enforcement. Pharmaceutical products in particular require coordination with the Pharmacy Board, which is responsible for regulating medicines, cosmetics and related products and already conducts inspections, product testing, post-market surveillance and enforcement activities. Shout Climate Change Africa calls for regular inspections rather than waiting for complaints or reports before action is taken. Authorities should consider: Market surveillance in major markets and commercial centers across the country. Sampling and laboratory testing of food, medicines and cosmetics.
Verification of expiry dates batch numbers, registration numbers, labels and manufacturers. Stronger monitoring of warehouses and distribution networks. Immediate removal and safe destruction of confirmed expired or counterfeit products. Investigation of suppliers and distributors for deliberately introducing unsafe products into the market. Public disclosure of confirmed dangerous products through official alerts. Greater public education so consumers know what to look for before purchasing products. Stronger collaboration among the Sierra Leone Standards Bureau, Pharmacy Board, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Trades, local councils, customs and law-enforcement agencies. The Pharmacy Board already provides a mechanism for reporting substandard medicines, including an online reporting option and telephone contacts. Regulation alone cannot solve the problem. Consumers should check expiry dates before purchasing food, medicines and cosmetics. They should examine packaging for signs of tampering avoid products with suspicious labels and seek medicines from authorized outlets. Where a product appears, suspicious consumers should report it to the regulatory authority instead of continuing to purchase or distribute it. Market traders, importers and distributors also have a responsibility. Profit must never come before safety. Sierra Leone cannot afford a situation in which expired, falsified or substandard products quietly find their way into the homes of citizens. The recent destruction of hundreds of pharmaceutical products demonstrates that enforcement interventions can identify unsafe products. The challenge is to ensure that surveillance is sufficiently broad and regular to detect products before they reach consumers. The Sierra Leone Standards Bureau and other relevant regulatory authorities should therefore intensify market monitoring.
Provide the public with regular information on enforcement actions, unsafe products and consumer protection measures. Protecting consumers is not about removing products from shelves after they have been discovered. It is about building a system strong enough to prevent dangerous products from reaching those shelves in the first place. For Sierra Leone the message should be clear: expired, counterfeit and substandard products have no place in our markets. Public health and consumer safety must come first. There is a need for sustained public awareness of the dangers associated with expired foodstuffs and pharmaceutical products and their potential impact on public health. The Sierra Leone Standards Bureau in collaboration with relevant regulatory institutions should develop a clear and accessible public reporting strategy that enables citizens to easily report suspected expired, counterfeit or substandard products for prompt verification, investigation and appropriate enforcement action. This could include a telephone hotline, WhatsApp reporting platform, SMS service and other community-based reporting channels. Public education should also guide consumers on how to identify products check expiry dates and report concerns without fear or difficulty. Such a system would strengthen citizen participation, in market surveillance. Help authorities respond more quickly to products that may pose risks to public health.
